Terror Danjah - Power Grid

Last year's Gremlinz compilation, the kind of all-encompassing retrospective that usually chronicles dead careers, seemed to single-handedly rejuvenate legendary grime producer Terror Danjah. His 2010 has been prolific by anyone's standards, with new releases on Hyperdub, Butterz, Planet Mu and Rwina. Wisely moving away from his past horror-tinged strings into a brighter synth-focused palette, his recent work has retained its cartoonish, exaggerated sense of colour while sounding a whole lot more expensive. This is unquestionably a positive thing. The mammoth Power Grid EP, nearly an album at eight tracks and thirty minutes, might be Danjah's most complete statement, showing remarkable restraint when necessary and clearly illuminating the gigantic leap in sound design he's made in the past year.

The EP kicks off with the rather subdued "Space Traveller," more atmosphere than drive with its main melody relegated to a g-funk riff that plays away happily, unfazed by the booming drums that anchor the track. It's immediately obvious how much more spacious everything sounds: Danjah has a newfound understanding of tension that makes his tracks even more visceral. The interplay between delay and release manages to make even his once-hackneyed drops sound fresh and devastating each time they hit, and when he does go for the jugular, it hits home. Just check the return to staccato strings on "Menace" and how much better it sounds now. Other astounding moments include the walloping piston whomp of "Twisted," the breathless rocky ascent of "Upton Lane" and the molasses-suspended breaks of "Power Grid." Slower sections or not, the whole package is such an overwhelming rush of adrenaline it's difficult to listen to anything else afterward.